'The Wild Geese 1690-97: fact or fantasy?' by Dr Pádraig Lenihan(NUIG).
Presentation recorded at the 2015 Tudor and Stuart Ireland Interdisciplinary Conference which took place from August 28-29 2015 in Maynooth University. Podcasting by Real Smart Media.
The paper will contest assertions that the ‘Irish brigade’ or ‘Wild Geese’ comprised élite shock troops who embodied the dreams of their countrymen at home. There is much to support this legend after 1702 (a topic which is beyond the scope of this paper) but I will give three reasons why it is unsustainable for the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-97). This is precisely the period when the numbers of Irishmen fighting for Bourbon France peaked: a map based on the digitized admission records of the Hôtel Des Invalides will show the intensity and location of combat. First, there was no Irish ‘brigade’ in the French army but thirteen regiments of foot (three ancien and the rest post-Treaty of Limerick), as well as dismounted dragoons and cavalry, serving in various brigades and different theatres. French perception of Irish troops as second-rate infantry can be inferred from their place in the lines of battle and from the relative lack of notice in despatches (this is a sharp contrast to their post 1702 perception) other than as sickly, quarrelsome, drunken, poorly clothed or dragging camp followers in their wake. Analysis of battles in 1692 and 1693 shows that the Irish at Dudenhoven (1692) and Neerwinden (1693) did not serve as shock troops using sword or bayonet but knelt, crouched or stood en haye to deliver volleys of musketry. Finally, in the work of contemporaneous Irish chroniclers or poets such as Daibhidh Ó Bruadair, Cochubair Ó Briain, Diarmaid Mac Seáin Bhuí Mac Cárrthaigh, or Seán Ó Gadhra references to the Irish during the War of the Grand Alliance are few, perfunctory, vague and sometimes inaccurate, like the author of the ‘Light to the Blind’ who boasted that the Irish possessed a special proficiency in swordplay which won the Battle of Marsaglia (1693).
The Tudor and Stuart Ireland conference was generously supported by UCD School of History, UCD Research, Marsh's Library, Graduate Studies Office at Maynooth University, the Department of History at Maynooth University and the Irish Research Council (New Foundations Award).